When the Marlins included John Buck in their blockbuster deal with the Blue Jays in December, they were mostly happy to get rid of his salary. He was later considered a throw-in as part of the deal that brought top prospects Travis d’Arnaud and Noah Syndergaard to the Mets for R.A. Dickey. However, the 32-year-old backstop has been one of the hottest hitters in the majors so far this season.

Buck launched a grand slam in last night’s 16-5 win over the Twins and is now hitting .351 (13-for-37) with six home runs through 10 games. This includes home runs in each of his last four games. He’s already halfway to his total of 12 homers from all of last season.

Buck is currently tied with the Orioles’ Chris Davis for the major league lead with 19 RBI. Meanwhile, the Marlins have only scored 17 runs through their first 10 games. And things aren’t going to get any easier if Giancarlo Stanton needs to miss an extended period of time with a shoulder injury.

Buck is a .237/.303/.410 hitter over 10 seasons in the major leagues, so he’s bound to cool off pretty soon, but the hot start will make it a little easier to justify keeping d’Arnaud with Triple-A Las Vegas until June.